Gubernatorial sex scandal roils Alabama

While acknowledging that he had made "inappropriate" advances and remarks to an aide, Bentley is maintaining that he did not have a physical sexual relationship with the woman, Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

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"At times in the past, have I said things that I should not have said? Absolutely, that’s what I’m saying today," the Republican governor said at a news conference Wednesday, nearly seven months after his wife of 50 years, Dianne Bentley, sought a divorce.

The statement also came after Spencer Collier, the leader of the state's Law Enforcement Agency until recently, said that Bentley had essentially admitted to carrying on an affair with Mason in 2014, citing audio tapes in which he made a series of sexually suggestive and explicit comments. Bentley had fired Collier, officially after an internal review revealed a possible misuse of money. But Collier alleged that he was fired for refusing to do Bentley's bidding in an unrelated corruption case.

"You know what, when I stand behind you and I put my arms around you, and I put my hands on your breasts, and I put my hands on you ... and pull you real close ... Hey, I love that too, putting my hands under you," Bentley was recorded saying to a woman, allegedly Mason, on the phone. "I love you. I love to talk to you. I do. ... But baby, lemme tell you what we’re gonna have to do tonight: Start locking the door. ... If we’re gonna do what we did the other day, we’re gonna have to start locking the door.”

Bentley acknowledged in Wednesday's news conference that the recordings were likely real — though he said he had never heard them, and denied they showed he was having a sexual affair with Mason, a married mother of three.

"It is not a physical relationship making those statements," he said, adding later, "I love many members of my staff. In fact all the members of my staff. Do I love some more than others? Absolutely."

Mason gained a higher profile in 2011 when she handled the fallout from the then-governor-elect comment that Alabamians who were not Christian were "not my brother" or "my sister."

''He is the governor of all the people, Christians, non-Christians alike," said Mason, his communications director at the time. Mason's husband worked in Bentley's office as well, as director of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives.

Questions over Mason's influence and role in the administration flared up last September when Bentley's wife announced that she wanted a divorce. Mason is not on the state payroll, according to the local report, and it is unknown how much her consulting firm is being paid.

In 2013, when Mason moved from being Bentley's communications director to his campaign, the committee to re-elect the governor paid her $426,978, according to AL.com. The media outlet also reported that Mason's company, RCM Communications, did no other consulting work for other campaigns, citing disclosure forms.

As a state employee, Mason filed disclosure forms in 2012 and 2013 listing her work as communications adviser and her consulting work in 2013, as well, according to the report. As a non-state employee in 2014, she was not required to submit a report for that year, according to the state ethics commission.

A spokesman for the state's attorney general declined to comment to The New York Times, while a spokeswoman for the federal government in Montgomery, Alabama, could neither confirm nor deny to the paper that it is investigating Bentley.

Mason, for her part, fired back at Collier's allegations, accusing him of "gender bias" — but did not address the allegation of an affair.

"There is no way that man (Collier) would have said what he did...about another man. He only said what he said about my professional abilities because I am a woman. His comments were clear, demonstrated gender bias," Mason said in a statement reported by AL.com. "Since 2010, I have proudly served as Gov. Robert Bentley's Campaign Press Secretary, Communications Director, Advisor, Campaign Communications Director and now Senior Policy Advisor. It is an honor to serve our Governor and the people of our state."

If comments from the state's Democratic House minority leader are any indication, the reaction to the episode is not one of partisan glee.

"No one rejoices in the downfall of another person. Accusations have been made against the highest law enforcement officer in Alabama by the man who hired him, while the governor has been accused of using his office to cover up his infidelity – the same governor who said 'if you're not a Christian, you are not my brother," House Minority Leader Craig Ford said, according to AL.com. "Democrats are not rejoicing today in what has happened. We believe everyone is our brother, and our focus will continue to be on representing the people who elected us. "